Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, September 25
Oxford, Ohio
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Miami
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Eastern Soccer Seeking 3rd-, 4th-Straight MAC Wins at Miami, vs. Ohio
9/24/2025 11:33:00 AM | Soccer
Eagles are 2-0 in MAC play, have sole possession of first place
| Soccer at Miami, vs. Ohio | |
| Date | Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. |
| Venue | Bobby Kramig Field | Oxford, Ohio | Scicluna Field | Ypsilanti, Mich. |
| Preview Info | EMU Notes (PDF) |
| Watch | Watch at Miami | Watch vs. Ohio |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| @EMUSoccer | @EMUAthletics | |
ON THE AIR: The Eagles and Bobcats will air on ESPN+ with Tom Helmer and former EMU soccer player Alia Reitano on the call. Furthermore, live stats for the match will be available at EMUEagles.com/livestats.
QUICK KICKS:
»Eastern defeated Toledo on the road for the first time since a 3-0 win, Sept. 23, 2012. Sunday's game was decided 1-0, the lone goal from Kaylee Synk in the 63rd minute.
»Despite being outshot by Buffalo, 17-4, the Eagles won their MAC opener 1-0, Sept. 18, after Olivia Sipsock sailed a high shot over the Bulls goalkeeper in the 48th minute for the only goal of the match.
»Eastern is 2-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2014. EMU was last 3-0 in the MAC in 2013 (started 4-0).
»The Eagles returned 14/36 players (39%) but bring back 12/15 (80%) of their goals scored (losing just the three scored by Maddie O'Farrell) as well as 71% of their minutes played.
»Head Coach Taylor Clarke is in his second season at the helm of the Eagles. Joining Clarke on staff are Associate Head Coach Matt Hinds (second season), Assistant Coach Meg Nemnich (first season), and Goalkeeping Coach Zach Shuk (second season).
2-0 IN MAC PLAY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2014: Despite three MAC teams playing a trio of conference matches compared to EMU's two played, Eastern sits atop the MAC standings with six points earned as the Eagles are 2-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2014.
CLEAN SHEETS IN MAC PLAY: Eastern Michigan started MAC play with two shutouts for the first time since the 2012 season, when the Eagles shutout NIU 1-0, Sept. 21, 2012, and Toledo 3-0, Sept. 23, 2012. EMU has not keep three-straight clean sheets to open MAC play since the 1999 team posted five-straight shutouts to start conference action.
CLEAN SHEETS IN ROAD MAC PLAY: Extending back through the final two road matches of the 2024 season, Eastern Michigan has posted three-straight road conference clean sheets. The current three-match streak of shutouts in road MAC matches is EMU's longest since the 2013 season. If the Eagles keep the RedHawks off the scoreboard, Sept. 25, the four-match streak would be Eastern's longest-ever in road MAC play.
SHUTOUT STREAK: With back-to-back shutouts against Buffalo and Toledo, goalkeeper Ella Holland looks for her third shutout in a row against Miami, Sept. 25. Holland has held teams scoreless two games in a row three times in her career.
Sept. 18, 2025 vs. Buffalo: 1-0
Sept. 21, 2025 at Toledo: 1-0
Oct. 27, 2024 vs. Kent State: 1-0
Oct. 31, 2024 at Akron: 1-0
Aug. 25, 2024 vs. Youngstown State: 2-0
Aug. 29, 2024 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne: 1-0
SECOND CAREER GOAL FOR KAYLEE SYNK: Freshman Kaylee Synk, who also scored at Southern Indiana, Aug. 28, netted her second career goal in the 63rd minute of the match at Toledo, Sept. 21.
FIRST CAREER ASSIST FOR CAMERYN SUSEY: Junior Cameryn Susesy, who has seen increased time as defender after previously being a forward, recorded her first career assist in the win at Toledo, Sept. 21, as freshman Kaylee Synk scored the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute.
MAC KEEPER OF THE WEEK ELLA HOLLAND: For the week, redshirt junior Ella Holland made 11 saves en route to being named MAC Goalkeeper of the Week. She produced eight saves in one match for the fourth time in her career, making numerous impressive stops against UB, Sept. 18. She also made a trio of saves against Toledo, Sept. 21, including a stop in the waning seconds of the contest.
With her three clean sheets this season, the redshirt junior is up to 13 career shutouts, sixth-most in program history.
Holland's 1.12 GAA mark ranks sixth in the MAC, but her play has picked up significantly after a rough 4-0 loss against the Big 12's Cincinnati to open the season.
Stretch of Matches GA GAA SV SV %
vs. Cincinnati 4 4.00 3 0.429
Last 7 matches 5 0.714 28 0.849
Total 9 1.12 31 0.775
KATE ROBINSON BACK IN YPSILANTI: Ohio's Kate Robinson returns to EMU Sunday, Sept. 28. The former Eagle played at Eastern for two seasons, earning MAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2023 after scoring two goals and recording seven assists. Her seven assists stand as the most by Eagle since 2013 and tied for the seventh-highest mark at EMU in a single season.
IN THE SERIES WITH MIAMI: Eastern Michigan and Miami are meeting for the 32nd time Thursday. Miami leads the series 16-13-2, with Eastern taking the most recent match, 1-0, Oct. 6, 2024. The Eagles are seeking their first win in Oxford since a 2-0 victory, Sept. 26, 2014 (0-2-1 over last three matches at Miami). EMU has not beat Miami in consecutive matches since the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
IN THE SERIES WITH OHIO: Eastern Michigan and Ohio are meeting for the 33rd time Sunday. Ohio leads the series 15-13-4, the most recent match being a 1-0 decision in favor of the Bobcats, Oct. 10, 2024. Eastern has dropped four-straight matches to Ohio with its last win coming in the MAC Tournament, Nov. 8, 2019. The Eagles have not topped the Bobcats in the Ypsilanti since Oct. 14, 2016, which all marks the last time EMU shutout OU.
RECORD ATTENDANCE: The Eagles' match Sunday, Aug. 31 against Robert Morris drew in an attendance of 451, 13th-best in program history and second-best this decade since 473 people attended the match Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022 against Bowling Green.
BACK-TO-BACK WINS BY MULTIPLE GOALS: With a 3-1 win at Southern Indiana, Aug. 28, and a 2-0 win over Robert Morris, Aug. 31, Eastern Michigan won consecutive matches by multiple goals for the first time since 2014, when it topped UIC, 4-2, and Miami, 2-0.
Eastern won four-straight non-conference affairs by multiple goals, extending from the 2013 to the 2014 season, but has not won three-straight non-conference matches in the same season by at least two goals since the 1999 campaign, doing so against Duquesne, Valparaiso, and Youngstown State.
SIPSOCK BACK-TO-BACK MATCHES WITH A GOAL: After scoring the game-winner at Southern Indiana, Aug. 28, and against Robert Morris, Aug. 31, junior Olivia Sipsock scored in consecutive games for the second time in her career. Sipsock, who scored against UIC and Youngstown State in back-to-back games in 2024, netted five goals in each of her first two seasons.
SENIOR CELEBRATION: Sophia Baumann, Mary Grimes, Meghan Heath, Secora Johnson, Lily Spotak, and Hannah Thompson were honored as part of Senior Day ahead of the match against Robert Morris, Aug. 31.
EIGHT-STRAIGHT FULL 90s: Junior Sarah Van Euwen played all 90 minutes in eight straight matches to start the season.
BACK-TO-BACK HOME MATCHES TO START: With the home match against Cincinnati, Aug. 14, and home match against UIC, Aug. 21, Eastern opened the season with back-to-back home matches for the first time since 2014 and seventh time in program history.
OPENED AT HOME FOR THE SEVENTH-STRAIGHT SEASON: With the match against Cincinnati, Aug. 14, Eastern started the season at home for the seventh-straight season, a streak that is tied for fourth in the nation. During that span, EMU is 2-2-3 overall.
Division I's Longest Active Season Opener at Home Streaks (Includes 2025):
School Streak
1. Memphis 11 games
2. Florida Atlantic 10 games
3. Dartmouth 9 games
T4. Eastern Michigan 7 games
Omaha 7 games
Assistant Coach Meg Nemnich has a direct connection to three of the schools in the top-five, having started her playing career at Memphis before transferring for four seasons at Omaha and beginning her coaching career at Eastern Michigan.
Radford (eight), Virginia (seven), and Fairfield (six) all saw their streaks of consecutive season openers coming at home come to an end in 2025.
POWER FOUR OPENER: With the match against the Big 12's Cincinnati, Aug. 14, the Eagles hosted a Power Four opponent for the first time since battling Syracuse University, Sept. 1, 2022.
EMU opened the season against a Power Four foe for the first time since taking on Purdue to start the 2018 season (L, 0-3) and the first time doing so in a home opener since 2012, when EMU faced Pittsburgh (L, 1-2).
ELLA HOLLAND, BEST SEASON SINCE...?: After conceding 2.03 goals/match in 2023, redshirt junior Ella Holland produced one of the most impressive seasons in 2024 in goal for the Eagles in recent memory. Her 0.78 GAA in 2024 is the fourth-best in program history and the best since Maggie Manville's 0.54 GAA mark in 2009. Her .846 save rate is the seventh-best percentage in program history and best since Monique Budani's .874 mark in 2010.
EVERY MINUTE IN GOAL FOR HOLLAND: Redshirt junior Ella Holland played every minute in goal during the 2024 season and has done so again in the 2025 season through eight matches. Kaylin Williams was the last EMU goalkeeper to do so as she was credited with every minute played in goal in 2016.
Rachel Washburn, wife to Eastern Michigan football legend and current Las Vegas Raider Maxx Crosby, is the most recent Eagle field player to play every minute of every match, doing so for all 19 matches in 2015.
Consecutive Minutes Played Streak (Since 2014)
Player Minutes Full Matches Played Streak Years
1. Kaylin Williams 2459:08 24 2014-16
2. Ella Holland 2385:00* 26 2023-25
3. Emily Dzik 2029:38 22 2013-14
4. Rachel Washburn 1908:03 19 2014-16
*active
NINE CLEAN SHEETS IN 2024: The nine clean sheets are the most for EMU in a single season since 2009 (nine). Eastern had six shutouts in the MAC play, which is its most in a single season since 1999 (eight).
UNDEFEATED AT HOME IN 2024: After three-straight wins at home to open the 2024 home slate, EMU finished 5-0-3 at Scicluna Field in 2024, most recently topping Kent State, 1-0, Oct. 27.
The Eagles went unbeaten on their home turf for the first time since the 1999 team went an impressive 10-0-1 at home and earned its second-ever undefeated home slate.
Entering the 2024 season, Eastern had a 22-match home streak since its last victory at Scicluna Field. Eastern had also not secured a home shutout since beating Miami, 3-0, Oct. 18, 2018, breaking a stretch of 39 home contests. EMU broke both streaks by beating Oakland, 1-0, Aug. 15, 2024
Prior to the Eastern loss to Cincinnati, Aug. 14, EMU's last loss on its home turf came via a 4-0 decision to Miami, Oct. 26, 2023.
HEAD COACH TAYLOR CLARKE: Taylor Clarke is in his second season at the helm of Eastern Michigan, leading EMU to a six-win improvement in his first year and an undefeated 5-0-3 mark at home. Clarke is just the third head coach in program history (since 1995). Clarke was previously at Division III's Carroll University with additional stops at the MAC's BGSU (Associate Head Coach, 2021-23), Division II's Ashland (Head Coach, 2018-21; Assistant Coach, 2014-16), Division III's Calvin College (Assistant Coach, 2017-18), and UNC-Wilmington (Assistant Coach, 2016-17). Clarke played his college soccer at Division II Saginaw Valley State, captaining the 2012 squad to the Division II National Championship match.
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MATT HINDS: Matt Hinds is in his second season as the team's associate head coach, helping Eastern to a 7-6-5 mark in his first year on staff. Hinds spent the last three seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater Division III Calvin College. Hinds, an All-American at Calvin 2017, overlapped with Clarke at Calvin as Clarke was an assistant coach for the Knights at the time. The pair also overlapped at Division II Ashland as Hinds spent one and one half years on staff for the Eagles. Hinds started his coaching journey at Division II Malone in 2019.
ASSISTANT COACH MEG NEMNICH: Meg Nemnich was hired as the team's assistant coach. Nemnich is a former player at the Summit League's University of Nebraska at Omaha, spending the 2021-24 seasons in Omaha as a student-athlete, earning All-Summit Second-Team honors as a senior. During her time as a student-athlete at Omaha, Nemnich played in 69 matches for the Mavericks, including 37 starts, primarily in the midfield. She was credited with two goals and one assist in her career, highlighted by a game-winner against the University of North Dakota, Oct. 10, 2024.
WHO'S BACK?: After losing just three players ahead of the 2024 season due to graduation, Head Coach Taylor Clarke and crew face a different challenge in 2025 as the Eagles lost 22 players from their 2024 roster due to graduation, the transfer portal, and expected NCAA roster limits.
In total, Eastern returns just 14/36 players (39%) but brings back 12/15 (80%) of its goals scored (losing just the three scored by Maddie O'Farrell) as well as 71% of its minutes played.
WHO'S NEW?: Eastern Michigan added nine freshmen and five transfers (Ciara Brown, Auburn; Ella Fuller, Morehead State; Meghan Heath, Canisius; Aniyah Mack, Austin Peay; Maya Marolly, St. Bonaventure).
NO POSTSEASON SINCE 2019: Eastern Michigan has not advanced to the MAC Tournament since falling in the championship match in 2019. The Eagles were 6-3 in the MAC in 2020 but the MAC Tournament was not played due to COVID-19. Prior to the current streak, the Eagles had never previously missed the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
HISTORIC CREW STADIUM FOR THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The MAC announced that the conference tournament will be held at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, for the 2025 and 2026 seasons with quarterfinals scheduled for Nov. 1, semifinals set for Nov. 4, and the championship, Nov. 7.
Historic Crew Stadium is the first-ever professional soccer-specific stadium in the United States.
This will mark the first time in conference history the event will be hosted at a neutral site.
FOLLOW ALONG: You can follow the Eagles on your favorite social media platforms, including Twitter (@EMUSoccer), Instagram (@EMUSoccer), and Facebook (Eastern Michigan Soccer).
UP NEXT: Eastern travels to Kent State Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. at Zoeller Field.
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